The Next Level In Gaming

There have been a lot of rumours flying around the internet about the next generation of games consoles. Both this week and last week have seen some interesting and intriguing rumours surroundiong the next Sony and Microsoft consoles. There has also been some new information on the Wii U which is due for release at the end of this year. With all of this buzz being generated online, I decided to sourer the internet to bring you the latest information surrounding the next generation of consoles. Enjoy!

Wii U

Lets start with the console with a definite release date. The latest information to surface about the Wii U is that it will not be as powerful as the current PS3 and 360. Does this mean we are going to have another graphically inferior games console from Nintendo for the next generation?

According to GamesIndustry International , though remaining anonymous at this time a few developers have stated that “The Wii U doesn’t produce graphics as well as the PS3 or the 360. There aren’t as many shaders, it’s not as capable. Sure, some things are better, mostly as a result of it being a more modern design. But overall the Wii U just can’t quite keep up.”

In contrast to the above statement Virgil games, the creators of Darksiders II beg to differ. Darksiders II will be a launch title for the Wii U and Virgil games have stated that “The Wii U hardware was “on par” with the current generation of consoles”

The technical specifications for the Wii U are still unannounced Maybe more solid information about the console will be released before it is launch at the end of this year.

The PS4: Code name ‘Orbis’

Rumour has it that the next Sony console will be due for release around Christmas 2013. So far no official announcements have come from Sony at all, however high profile sites such as Kotaku seem pretty confident that this rumour could be true.

Code named ‘Orbis’ the next generation Sony console has been rumoured to not play any used games. This means that you have to buy games brand new or not at all. Not good news for gamers who like to swap games with their friends.

Much like the PS3, the next Sony console also seems unlikely too have backwards comparability, meaning that you probably won’t be able to play PS3 games on your shiny new next gen console. As Sony are remaining tight lipped this is all speculation for now, we will have to wait for official announcements to know more.

The Next Xbox: Code name ‘Durango’

The next generation Microsoft console has also been rumoured for a Christmas 2013 release. Much like the next Sony console the new Xbox is rumoured to need a constant internet connection. Why a constant net connection? Well it is thought that this could be part of a anti-piracy measure that Microsoft will be undertaking. It is also suspected that this maybe a technique to combat the second hand gaming market restricting the trade in second hand games and game sharing.

Other rumours suggest that the next Xbox will have a touch screen controller. It has also been said that the console will have Kinect 2.0 bundled with it at purchase as well.

As you can see from the rumours it would seem that both Sony and Microsoft may want to take more control of the second hand gaming market. A good move? My gut instinct says no. There are a lot of gamers out there who swap games with their friends and many gamers use game swapping to try out new titles before they buy them. Lets hope that if these rumours are true that it doesn’t alienate to many gamers in the process.